Winning never gets old.
It’s one of the few reasons why a coach would stay in one place for so long, let alone three decades.
Dunc Walsh agrees with that sentiment. He’s been the head coach of the Concord boys ice hockey team since the 1990 season and is amid a 32-year stint. He’s taken the program from oft-contender to one of the state’s perennial powerhouses.
Under his command, the Crimson Tide have made it to the state championship game 12 times and won eight of them. He’s provided critical on-ice instruction to generations worth of young skaters and not only has affected their hockey careers, but their development as adults.
He never grows tired of it, always wanting “one more” championship. Ahead of the season, which starts on Dec. 15 on the road at Salem, the exuberant coach took the time before practice for an extended interview.
What was Concord hockey like when you started?
I got the job in August of ’90 and it’s just amazing that it’s been 32 years. It’s gone by fast, but you know, I don’t think much has changed really the way the program has been run. We’ve run it the same way we have for 30-plus years. I enjoy coaching and I have good assistants who played for me, which helps. And I think the kids that come here know it’s a good program. There’s continuity and hasn’t been much turnover.
You mention continuity, but what’s been one of the biggest factors to the success you’ve had during your career?
I think a lot of it goes right back to our feeder program. Concord youth hockey is a big youth feeder program and we’ve benefited from that for years. They’ve run a good program, but things have changed in the last 10 years, I’d say, where there’s no boundaries. It used to be every kid that tried out (for Concord High), I’ve watched them play and I’ve seen them grow up. That’s changed because a lot of kids play Avalanche, Monarchs, other youth programs. We had eight freshmen tryout this year and I really had never seen any of them play. Whereas, if this were 10 years ago, I would have seen them.
How difficult does that make the tryout process for you and with returning guys. Do you have them skate during the tryout?
It’s hard because you only have a three-day tryout and you hope you get it right. But what can you do, you know? Most of (the returners) skate during the fall on different teams. Same thing like the youth program. It used to be the Concord midget team was all Concord kids, a couple Bishop Brady and a couple of Bow kids, but now some play here, some play in Hooksett, some play in Tri-town. Yeah it would be nice if they all played together, but at least they’re playing.
Overall, would you say having more options to play is better for your program?
I guess it gives more kids a chance. There are a lot of people out there trying to get them to play for their team not just for the fall but for a full season. Ryan Philbrick left this year after his junior season for the right reason. He needed to play at a higher level. He was the best player in our league by far. Those are the types of kids that they leave for the right reasons. The kids that will leave after their sophomore year to play a full season schedule, I just don’t get it. It’s different that way, but we don’t lose many and I think that’s because of the success and consistency.
Let’s briefly look at last year’s team. You won your eighth state championship, the program’s tenth overall. Was there a moment in the season last year that really told you ‘this team can do it’?
I think we knew going into the season that we could do it. There was so much motivation because two years ago we got to the finals and they shut us down 24 hours before puck drop. This team was so motivated last year, almost with a chip on their shoulder – they jokingly called it ‘revenge tour 21.’ We knew we had a good enough team. It’s just that you worried about getting shut down with COVID. We started the season late, then we got shut down for a week so it was always that fear of ‘what happens the week of the state tournament?’ But we got through it and we played really well the last month.
This is a team last year that averaged six goals a game while only allowing one against them. What makes your team that efficient on both ends of the ice?
I think the last two years the biggest thing we have is our power play. I mean, it was at like 48 percent, the year before that it was 52. Teams that took penalties on us, they were in trouble. This year, I don’t think we’ll get to those numbers, but we got some guys that can score and we got a lot back from last year. Defensively we lost two kids that were all-state so we’re not as good as far as a high-end guy. We do have five or six guys that can play more steady, stay at home, move the puck.
Defensemen aside, what are going to be some of the challenges for this coming season?
Depth. We don’t have the depth we had last year. Like I said on defense, we got some good defensemen but we don’t have the high-end guy that can really just run the power play and make us really dangerous. But I think they’ll get better and you know, there’s kids that are going to be thrown in roles that they’ve never had. Almost like you’re plugging in kids here that haven’t done something before. And it’s not about December, it’s about three months from now when it really matters. I think we have three good lines. We got a fourth little line of all freshmen that all know how to play, they’re just small and they’ll get knocked around a bit but they’ll be fine.
Do you have any swing position players? Someone that could play on the blue line that could also be a forward?
We got one, Colin Nelson. He was a defenseman his first two years and last year we moved him to forward. We’re hoping we can leave him at forward, but he’s a kid that you’ll see him playing both at times.
When you look back on the last 30 plus years, what’s been one of your favorite moments?
I like winning. That’s always one of my favorites. It’s been fun to coach and we have good kids, and the relationships. I mean, we had an alumni game Thanksgiving morning and we had 28 guys show up and it was kids from two years ago to 20 years ago. That’s the most satisfying part, the relationship. I’ll be out at a restaurant and say ‘oh, that’s so and so, his kid played for me.’ It’s been fun.